OCTOBER 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 23
WHOLLY MOLI
CRESCENT DUCK FARM
LAST OF ITS KIND BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
Long before the East End became
known as wine country, Peking duck
ruled Long Island, where more than 40
duck farms once dotted the region.
Today, the Long Island Ducks play
baseball and the term “Long Island
duck” resonates, although all but just
one have resisted the urge to sell the
land to real estate developers: Crescent
Duck Farm in Aquebogue.
“We’ve had some of this land since the
1600s,” Crescent Duck Farm President
Doug Corwin says of the 140-acre farm.
“My great grandfather started growing
ducks in 1908. Each generation has
added more to this. It’s a family owned
business that’s four generations old and
hoping to go into the fifth generation.”
Duck farming in the U.S. first truly
caught hold on LI after the original
breeding stock was brought over from
China in the late 1800s.
“So much of the industry was here on
Long Island it almost became a generic
term, just as Maine Lobster became
a generic term,” Corwin says. “Long
Island duck meant something. It’s not
quite so well known a term anymore.”
The Island’s combination of land,
climate, proximity to markets such
as New York City, and transportation
such as the Long Island Rail Road made
it ideal for duck farmers.
“Back two centuries ago, you had a
phenomenal amount of farms on eastern
Long Island,” Corwin says. “There
was nothing but potatoes, ducks, and
whatever else was being farmed.”
He said 70 to 80 percent of the nation’s
ducks were grown on LI, as farms got
bigger and absorbed other farms.
Gradually, the World Wide Web
replaced webbed feet as a
more common source of
income.
“The industry took a big downturn
and most of our competition
went out of business,” Corwin
says. “We’re trying to do agriculture
in an expensive area. It’s cheaper
to grow ducks in the Midwest.”
Today, duck farms are more commonly
found in Pennsylvania,
Long Island
duck was once
as ubiquitous as
Maine lobster.
(Getty Images)
Indiana, and California. But Crescent
presses on, using technology such as
high-tech microbiological testing and
selling to wholesalers that supply highend
restaurants and butcher shops.
“We’re putting up a
brand new hatcher
now,” Corwin
says. “I invested
in a phenomenal
waste treatment
plant.”
People sometimes offer
to buy land, but as Corwin
describes things,
don’t expect this
era to end on Long Island
anytime soon.
“Every now and then
someone comes in and
says, ‘I’d like that parcel,’” Corwin says.
“We’ve turned it down. I’ve got a good
business. I’ve got a brand name that’s
well known. There’s a sense of satisfaction
in doing something iconic for Long
Island.”
SUFFOLK COUNTY CONSERVATIVE PARTY ELECTS
FIRST-EVER LATINO PARTY CHIEF
The Conservative Party of
Suffolk County, the state’s largest
county minor party, has elected a
new Chairman: Michael Torres.
Torres was elected unanimously to
the position on Tuesday night, to
become the first Latino-American
Chair in the Conservative Party’s
history.
The Suffolk Conservative party
is powerful and yields influence in
local, state, and federal elections,
as well as elections of Judges.
Ranking on the third ballot line, a
coveted location on the ballot, their
membership is often the deciding
vote on whether a candidate is
elected or defeated on Election Day.
Michael Torres has been on the
executive board of the Suffolk
County Conservatives for several
terms, serving as the Party’s
Secretary in the administration of
outgoing-Chairman Frank Tinari,
who is vacating the post to take
on a Vice Chair role with the state
party. Tinari endorsed Torres to
succeed him. The vote was taken
at the Party’s socially-distanced
2020 Party Convention, hosted
this year at the I.B.E.W. Local 25 in
Hauppauge, with approximately
75 of their 800 active members in
attendance.
The top priorities for Chairman
Torres include re-electing
Congressman Lee Zeldin and
electing Andrew Garbarino, an
Assemblyman seeking to replace 14-
term Rep. Peter King, to Congress,
stressing the importance of the 2020
elections.
“I am honored to have been
unanimously elected by the Suffolk
County Conservative Party as
their Chairman. I am equally
honored to have the support of our
membership as I am to have the
endorsement of outgoing-Chairman
Frank Tinari, who I was proud to
serve alongside as Secretary,” said
Chairman Torres. “I will fight for
our voices to be heard, our interests
to be represented, and I will remain
committed to our conservative
values as we collectively work to
elect Conservative candidates to
Town, County, State, Federal Offices
and the bench,” he continued.
In his new rol e , he will
simultaneously hold the positions of
County Chairman and Chairman of
the Brookhaven Conservative Party.
The Suffolk Conservatives are
a party of constitutionalists, who
take a pro-law enforcement stance,
and support limited government.
The great uniter of the party, this
cycle, is re-electing the President of
the United States, who Torres says
is generating voter enthusiasm like
never before.
“Our members are supporters of
the President and believe that he has
been unfairly treated by members
of the press with a left-tilt. Our
nation was poised with the strongest
economy in history prior to the
global pandemic’s dawn -- Trump
has proven once he can build a
thriving economy. He, not Vice
President Biden, is best equipped
to help our nation recover,” said
Torres.
When asked what the election
means to him, Torres said it means
more than just a title or a position.
“Plain and simple: I see my
new role as both an honor and a
responsibility to the members of
the Conservative Party. The main,
and most fervent, goal we share is
to elect Conservatives to all levels
of government, and help provide
a check-and-balance on those in
power,” said Torres.
Torres, 47, and his wife, Betsy,
reside in Eastport, Long Island, with
their son.
(L-R): Michael Torres, Chairman, Suffolk
County Conservative Party, his wife, Betsy,
and Congressman Lee Zeldin (NY-01)
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
